Chancellor Zimpher to Conduct National Search for SUNY Provost

April 10, 2013

Albany — State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today announced that a national search for the university system’s next provost will commence, following a recent decision by SUNY Provost Dr. David K. Lavallee to return to his tenured faculty position at SUNY New Paltz.

As SUNY’s top academic officer since 2009, Lavallee has led efforts to ease and expand student mobility within the system and helped to shape and implement Chancellor Zimpher’s strategic enrollment management, shared service, and global initiatives. Most recently, he played a leadership role in the development of Open SUNY.

“David joined us as an interim provost four years ago and he has since gone well above and beyond our initial expectations,” said SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman H. Carl McCall. “While his day-to-day leadership in Albany will be missed, David will continue to serve SUNY with distinction at New Paltz and across the State.”

“Academic affairs at SUNY have made unprecedented strides under David’s leadership, and we are so pleased that his valuable service to SUNY will continue at New Paltz,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “The entire university system has reaped the benefits of David’s vision, knowledge, and commitment to building a stronger university, and we cannot thank him enough.”

“Working with Chancellor Zimpher and the Board of Trustees to expand opportunities for our students has been the experience of a lifetime, and I will forever be grateful to have had the opportunity,” said Provost Lavallee. “The incredible progress we have made together in just four years would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the Office of Academic Affairs staff.”

At SUNY New Paltz, Lavallee will mentor science faculty, develop a system-wide leadership workshop series for campus administrators, and continue to provide leadership for SUNY’s university-wide programs.

SUNY New Paltz President Donald P. Christian said, "Dr. Lavallee’s contributions to public higher education in New York are numerous and impressive. On behalf of the entire campus community, I eagerly welcome him back and look forward to the insight, guidance, and leadership expertise he will share with our faculty, staff, and students.”

Binghamton University President Harvey G. Stenger will chair the national search committee for SUNY’s next provost.

About Dr. David K. Lavallee Dr. David K. Lavallee has an extensive record in higher education administration as well as international education, science education, and research. Before assuming his current position at SUNY, he was provost of SUNY New Paltz for 10 years.

Lavallee’s research in bio-inorganic chemistry has produced more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, two books and two patents. He has been awarded more than $5 million in research and training grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and several other agencies and foundations. He has been an invited speaker at more than 125 universities and research centers in 11 countries and was a Fulbright senior research fellow in Paris in 1986.

Lavallee has also served as a research collaborator or consultant at several national laboratories, including Argonne in Chicago, Ill., Brookhaven in Upton, N.Y., and Los Alamos in Los Alamos, N.M. His teaching and curriculum work has led to the Catalyst Award, a national award for chemistry teachers, major grants from the Department of Education for science preparation for teachers and from the National Science Foundation for high school technology education.

Prior to his arrival at SUNY New Paltz, Lavallee was the provost and senior vice president at The City College of New York in Manhattan from 1994-99. From 1978 to 1994, Lavallee was with Hunter College, City University of New York, initially as a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and then as associate provost. Before his tenure at Hunter, he was an assistant professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.

Lavallee earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y., and his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in Chicago, Ill.

About the State University of New YorkThe State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, with 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school, and business in the state. As of Fall 2017, more than 430,000 students were enrolled in a degree program at a SUNY campus. In total, SUNY served nearly 1.4 million students in credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs in the 2016-17 academic year. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in $1 billion of externally sponsored activity each year. There are 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.